The Santander Equity Income fund has fallen in the rankings of the Sanlam Private Wealth Income Study, dropping from the respected White list to the laggard Black list over three consecutive studies.

Sanlam Private Wealth publishes the review of the UK Equity Income sector biannually.

The report says: “The Santander Equity Income fund has unfortunately continued to fall in the rankings. It has seen quite a fall from grace given that it has moved from the White List, to the Grey List and now to the Black list in the last three studies. Performance has continued to be disappointing, volatility has increased and the yield has also dropped.”

Over the course of 2016 the fund made a total return of 4.9 per cent, compared to the 8 per cent average in the Black list, according to Sanlam Private Wealth.

There were several changes within the White list, with only six funds still in place since the last study. The CF Miton UK Multi Cap Income fund made the grade, replacing the Troy Trojan Income fund in the top spot, with latter dropping 18 places to the Grey list.

“Gervais Williams and Martin Turner’s fund has produced solid returns on a consistent basis, despite having a weaker 2016 compared to its own history. Furthermore, the fund has low volatility compared with peers as well as successfully providing more income than most over the past five years,” the report says.

The highest climber is the Schroder Income Maximiser fund, run by Mike Hodgson, which has moved into the White list having joined the Grey list in the last review. The fund has jumped 27 places to 7th position.

“Performance has been very strong in 2016, with the fund ranking first out of our universe, under this metric, and See has maintained the fund’s high yield, also ranking first out of peers under dividend income provided in the past five years,” the study says.